Inclusion Daily Express -- Teaching Assistants Can Restrain Students Under New Rule

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Teaching Assistants Can Restrain Students Under New Rule
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
December 20, 2005

LONDON, ENGLAND-- Teaching assistants, lunchtime monitors, and other non-teaching staff in England can be granted authority to restrain students under new rules set by education ministers.

Under the proposal, developed by a working group of head teachers set up to advise officials on how to deal with disruptive behavior, head teachers can delegate the right to restrain students to any staff members employed directly by the school.

The change comes two months after the Department for Education and Skills gave teachers stronger rights to restrain and otherwise discipline pupils to instill "good order".

According to BBC News, the National Union of Teachers welcomed the new rules, saying it would try to have the measure expanded to apply throughout the United Kingdom.

Last week, the Observer reported that up to 20,000 students with disabilities in England and Wales are being "excluded", meaning expelled or suspended, from school.

A parent advocate group responded that many students who do not get the support they need in the classroom become disruptive, and then are punished for misbehavior.

Related:
"Support staff get restraint power" (BBC News)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4543406.stm
"Teachers get discipline rights" -- October 21, 2005 (BBC News)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4361770.stm

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